In celebration of the opening of the Lake County Winegrape Commission's new office, the Lake County Chamber of Commerce conducted a ribbon cutting. Pictured, left to right: Jim Magliulo, Lake County Chamber of Commerce; David Weiss, Secretary/Treasurer, Lake County Winegrape Commission; Bill Oldham, Board Member, Lake County Winegrape Commission; Debra Sommerfield, President, Lake County Winegrape Commission; Paul Zellman, Education Director, Lake County Winegrape Commission; Broc Zoller, Board Member, Lake County Winegrape Commission; Jeff Lyon, Outgoing Board Member, Lake County Winegrape Commission; Susan Peters, Office Manager, Lake County Winegrape Commission; Jeff Tyrrell, District Representative, Senator Noreen Evans; Buz Dereniuk, Board Member, Lake County Winegrape Commission; Terry Dereniuk, Executive Director, Lake County Winery Association; Randy Krag, Outgoing Board Member, Lake County Winegrape Commission; Paula Blaydes, Consultant, Senate Select Committee on California's Wine Industry; Bonnie Sears, Board Member, Lake County Winegrape Commission; Jonathan Walters, Vice Chair, Lake County Winegrape Commission; Peter Molnar, Chair, Lake County Winegrape Commission; Alan Flora, Deputy CAO, County of Lake; Rick Hamilton, Lake County Chamber of Commerce; Matt Perry, CAO, County of Lake; Jeff Smith, Chair, Lake County Board of Supervisors; and Robert Boccabella, Lake County Chamber of Commerce.                         Photo courtesy of Lake County Chamber of Commerce

KELSEYVILLE, CA - The Lake County Winegrape Commission officially opened the doors to its new office and education center last month, hosting an open house to welcome winegrape growers, industry representatives and the public.

Commission Chairman Peter Molnar and Board Members welcomed visitors to the office at 3865 Main Street, Kelseyville, during the open house event. Guests enjoyed wine tasting and appetizers while listening to music performed by local guitarist Jim Williams. Approximately 150 attended the gathering, which was complemented by an official ribbon cutting by the Lake County Chamber of Commerce.

The event featured a tasting of the newest Lake County Sauvignon Blanc releases from Art+Farm's The Girls in the Vineyard, Brassfield Estate, Cache Creek Vineyards, Chacewater, Fetzer's Bonterra, Gregory Graham Wines, Guenoc, High Valley Vineyards, Shed Horn Cellars, Shannon Ridge Vineyards, Six Sigma Ranch & Winery, Smiling Dogs Ranch, Steele's Shooting Star, Thorn Hill Vineyards and Wildhurst Vineyards.

The office space also was designed to accommodate meetings and workshops. "The Commission's new space includes office space plus an education center that enables us to host workshops, tastings, our Master Vigneron classes and other events," Commission President Debra Sommerfield said. "It also will provide a community gathering space for local grape growers to get together and for other agriculture-related organizations to host meetings."

Sommerfield expressed gratitude on behalf of the Commission for all of the support in preparing the space and presenting the event with special thanks to the many wineries who provided wine; local artists Annette and Robert Higday; local photographer Nathan DeHart; Mark Borghesani and Mike McQueen for the space renovation; Rick Hamilton for signage; Beth Havrilla and the team at Lake Event Design for their assistance in beautifying the space; Rosey Cooks who catered the event; Allied Grape Growers who donated the raffle prize; and event staffers Valerie Ramirez, Mireya Turner, and Jessica Myers.

Just prior to the open house, the Commission Board of Directors met for its regular monthly meeting. The Board officially seated two new and two returning Board Members elected by local grape growers, approved the Commission's 2014-15 budget, and set the grower assessment rate at 1 percent for the 2014 marketing season. Bonnie Sears and Bill Oldham joined the Board while Jonathan Walters and Broc Zoller were re-elected to their Board seats.

In other Board business, officers for the coming year were selected with Molnar continuing to serve as Commission Chair, Walters as Vice Chair and David Weiss as Secretary-Treasurer. Committee Chairs were appointed: Walters as Executive Committee Chair, Zoller as Research and Education Committee Chair, Molnar as Marketing Chair, Buz Dereniuk as Finance Committee Chair, and Bill Brunetti as Community/Industry Relations Committee Chair.

Board Members thanked and recognized Jeff Lyon and Randy Krag for eight years of service on the Commission Board with Molnar noting their dedication and contributions to the Commission's programs and work.

The Lake County Winegrape Commission is a marketing order established in 1991 to promote the region's premium winegrapes and to assist the region's winegrape growers. The purpose of the Lake County Winegrape Commission is to implement effective marketing, education, and research programs on behalf of Lake County winegrape growers.